Apparatus for producing buoyant bubbles



March 1, 1955 A. A. DE FRAITES 2,702,962

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING BUOYANT BUBBLES Filed Jan. 16, 1953 Arthur A.DeFraifes INVENTOR.

United States Patent 0.

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING BUOYANT BUBBLES Arthur A. De Fraites, Houma, La.

Application January 16, 1953, Serial No. 331,608

1 Claim. (Cl. 46-6) This invention relates to amusement devices and moreparticularly to the apparatus for producing buoyant bubbles.

An object of this invention is to provide an amusement device for makingbubbles which will float in the am Another object is to provide a devicewhich incorporates means for introducing a lighter than air gas into theinterior of a bubble so that the same will be buoyant.

A further object of this invention is to provide means for displacingair within the interior of a plastic bubble with a lighter than air gas.

A still further object is to provide a device in conformity with theabove objects in which sealing means are provided for preventing theescape of air from the interior of a plastic bubble prior to and afterthe introduction of a lighter than air gas into the interior of suchbubble.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical elevation of a tube for producing plastic bubbleshaving a completed bubble formed thereon;

Figure 2 is an elevation showing the apparatus utilized in introducinggas into the interior of a bubble operatively connected to the device asshown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged section through a portion of the bubble andbubble producing tube showing a portion of the gas introducing nozzleoperatively placed within the tube;

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken substantially along line 4'4 ofFigure 3;

Figure 5 is an enlarged section similar to Figure 3 but showing the airdisplacing nozzle in operative position within the bubble; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged section similar to Figure 5 but showing thenozzle in retracted position within the bubble tube after a portion ofthe air within the bubble has been displaced therefrom.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 1, reference numeral 10indicates generally a bubble making member and numeral 12 indicates aplastic bubble formed thereon. Member 10 consists of a tube which isopen at both ends thereof and upon one end of which may be placed a massof plastic material which may subsequently be formed into the shape of abubble by merely introducing air under pressure at the other end of thetube. This is usually accomplished by placing one end of the tube in ausers mouth whereupon the user may blow into the tube and produce abubble of desired size. This particular type of device has gainedpopularity as an amusement device for children since the plastic skin ofthe bubble is fairly tough or durable and may also be sealed upon itselfwhen punctured by merely pinching together a mass of the plastic skinaround the punctured area. To remove the bubble making tube member fromthe plastic bubble, it is merely necessary to twist the same and pullaway from the bubble whereupon the plastic will seal itself and the tubemay be separated therefrom.

It is common with balloons or bubbles made of rubber or other resilientmaterial to inflate the same by introducing directly thereinto a lighterthan air gas which will 2,702,962 Patented Mar. 1, 1955 simultaneouslyinflate the same to the desired size and render the balloon buoyant.This manner of inflating bubbles of the plastic type is not satisfactorybecause the gas is not susceptible to suflicient control tosatisfactorily form the plastic bubbles which, due to their physicalnature, must be inflated in a slow and controlled manner, to preventbreakage thereof.

However, due to the increased amusement value thereof, it is desirableto introduce a lighter than air gas into the interior of the abovedescribed plastic bubbles and this is accomplished by utilizing a nozzleor tube 14 which is connected through a flexible hose 16 to a suitablesource 18 of lighter than air gas. The source or reservoir 18 isprovided with a control valve 20 and an operating handle 22 therefor forthe purpose of selectively controlling the flow of gas therefrom.

As more clearly shown in Figures 3-6, the bubble tube 10 consists of acircular wall 24 having one open end 26 in communication with theinterior of the plastic bubble 12. The gas tube 14 is telescopically andconcentrically slidable within the tube 10 and is provided at its freeopen end 28 with an annular sealing ring 30 which tightly engages on theouter surface thereof and whose outer diameter is the same or slightlygreater than the inner diameter of tube 10. The sealing ring may be ofresilient material, in which case its outside dimension will bepreferably greater than'the inner diameter of tube 10, or it may beprovided in the form of a nonresilient material, in which case itsoutside dimension will preferably be of the same diameter as the innermeasurement of the tube. In either case, the sealing ring 30 engages theinner surface of tube wall 24 and, when the nozzle or tube 14 is in theposition shown in Figure 3, air within the bubble or balloon 12 will beprevented from escaping to the atmosphere through tube 10.

In operation, a bubble is first produced as shown in Figure 1 and whenthe same is of the desired size, the users thumb may be inserted overthe free open end of tube 10 to prevent the escape of air from theinterior of the bubble and consequent collapsing of the same. Then, theuser may grasp the nozzle assembly 14 in his other hand and insert thefree end thereof into the tube 10 whereupon the sealing engagement ofring 30 will prevent escape of air through the tube 10 and subsequentcollapsing of the bubble. Obviously, a slight collapsing of the bubblewill occur due to some of the air being forced therefrom into theinterior of the nozzle 14 and flexible tube 16 but such collapsing willbe very slight and have no detrimental effect. With the assembly in theposition shown in Figure 3, the user may open the control valve 20 ofthe gas reservoir 18 and simultaneously slide the nozzle within thebubble so that the free end thereof and the sealing ring 30 are disposedbeyond the free end 26 of tube 10; this position of the nozzle assemblyis shown in Figure 5 and it is readily apparent that the lighter thanair gas introduced into the bubble 12 from the nozzle 14 will displaceair within the bubble and force the same outwardly therefrom throughtube 10. Of course, as the quantity of gas within the bubble increases,a mixture of gas and air will be forced outwardly therefrom eflecting aprogressive dilution of the air within the bubble until such time asthere is suflicient gas to render the same buoyant. When this conditionexists, control valve 20 may be shut off and the nozzle assemblyretracted once again within tube 10, as shown in Figure 6, and the tube10 and bubble 12 separated as described above.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further explanation is believed to beunnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction shown and described, andaccordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

A nozzle assembly for producing buoyant bubbles, comprising a first tubeopen at both ends and adapted to receive a mass of plastic material incovering rela- 4 tiotrli1 to tgnefiof its ends,cl a second btulilesliiably ilisposeg References Cited in the file of this patent wi in erst tube an open at 0t en s, sai secon tube being longer than the firsttube and provided with UNITED STATES PATENTS sealing means at one end,said second tube being movable 1,406,380 Heath et a1 Feb. 14, 1922between one position wherein said sealing means engages 5 2,133,499Dolan Oct. 18, 1938 the inner surface of the first tube such that thenozzle 2,438,854 Jakobsen Mar. 30, 1948 assembly presents a single ductthrough the second tube, 2,452,794 Saachy Nov. 2, 1948 and anotherposition wherein the sealing means is out of 2,561,974 Corbitt July 24,1951 engagement with the first tube such that the nozzle as- 2,599,888Beezley et a1 June 10, 1952 sembly presents independent ducts throughthe first as 10 well as the second tube.

